Welcome to Reality

Species

the objective reality of the concept of a species is a debatable topic
are all of our taxonomic differentiations purely a result of our desire to bring order to the universe?
are we just imposing a made up system on this planet’s living things for our own peace of mind?
or is there actual truth in the way we have set out to group living things?
some would say the former
some the latter

a species is the smallest taxonomic unit we recognize
(unless of course you believe in subspecies, but that’s a discussion for another time)
but how we define a species is a messy topic indeed
some would say that species are differentiated by their ability to interbreed and produce fertile offspring
this is referred to a the biological species concept
and it does not hold true for a large number of organisms
like most plants
that said, it’s still what’s taught in most high school biology classes
others would say that species are defined by their ancestry
and that organisms can be considered of the same species if all of the members come from the same common ancestor and maintain similar traits
this is referred to as the phylogenetic species concept
it is less restrictive than the biological species concept because it allows for the possibility of interbreeding between species
to quote Darwin
“No one definition has satisfied all naturalists; yet every naturalist knows vaguely what he means when he speaks of a species.”
we could all consider ourselves naturalists
in that we have spent time interacting with the natural world
and I would bet that you can tell a blue bird from a cardinal
or a lobster from a crab
we all have a vague idea of which organism is which

ethnobiologist Brent Berlin and two botanists, Breedlove and Raven
did a study on the plant taxonomy of the Tzeltal Maya people of Chiapas, Mexico
they published their first paper in 1966 announcing that only 34% of the Tzeltal classifications of local plants matched the accepted Linnean taxonomic distinctions
they attributed this discrepancy and misclassification to the way the people of this cultural uses and practices based around certain plants
this would seemingly disprove the objective reality of a species
if biologists and indigenous peoples have such a vastly different opinion of what constitutes a species
it must be subjective
but
not more than a few years later
Berlin, Breedlove, and Raven published another paper retracting their previous remarks
it turns out that there is, in fact, an uncanny level of similarity between Linnean and Tzeltal classification of plant species
they admitted that
upon the publication of their first paper
they did not fully understand some of the nuances of Tzeltal taxonomy

A brave thing they did, retracting their previous results and admitting their mistakes. That takes humility and the ability to value the truth above one’s own ego. There are many other cases of folk taxonomy matching that determined by biologists. The comparison between Tzeltal and Linneaus is not a singular event. Indigenous people recognize species. Biologists recognize species. I recognize species. You recognize species. And I could bet that we would all generally break organisms into different species in similar ways. That’s about as close to objectivity as it gets.

Welcome to reality.

P.s.

The inspiration for this post comes from an essay by Stephen Jay Gould, entitled “A Quahog is a Quahog”, in which the reality of a species is further articulated. This man was an incredible evolutionary biologist, prolific writer, and gifted mind. The Tzeltal example is in there along with a few others. Take a look and enjoy some of evolutionary biology’s richest writing.